Bucking The Trend, The Oilers Beat The Canucks
by ryanbatty on Oct 26, 2011 2:06 AM MDT
in Game Reports
Email
PrintTonight the Oilers took on the Canucks for the second time this season. A lot has been made recently about the Oilers inability to win games in their division and this was a chance to right the ship so to speak. In the previous meeting between these two teams the Oilers were unable to win, losing by a score of 4-3, but all anyone in Edmonton could talk about that night, or in the days that followed, was the hat trick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (might have) scored.
Despite lacking another Nugent-Hopkins hat trick on this night, the Oilers were somehow still able to come away with a 3-2 win, against a divisional opponent no less. If you're not familiar with recent Oiler history this is a big deal. Simply put, the Oilers have struggled something fierce to win against teams in their own division and any win should be cause for celebration. A win against a team that was the runner-up for the Stanley Cup last season should be special cause for celebration if it at least quiets some Canuck fans for a night.
Scoring Chances
Fenwick/Corsi
Head-to-Head Ice Time
Shift Charts
Box Score
Event Summary
Faceoff Report
Shots Report
Ice Tracker
The first period saw the two teams go back and forth, little bit by little, almost as if they were feeling each other out. The Oilers would register the chance advantage in the period but each team had their share of chances. The Oilers best scoring chances came on the powerplay after Jannik Hansen was called for delay of game when he crashed into the net. On the ensuing powerplay the Oilers had two scoring chances but couldn't get a puck past Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo who stood tall, which meant that Oiler fans had to listen to Canuck fans yell Luooooooooooo throughout the first period, a chant I personally believe is the most annoying in the NHL.
In the second period the game opened up significantly. Driven by Oiler goals from Jordan Eberle, Shawn Horcoff, and Taylor Hall, the Oilers would find themselves with a three-goal lead. For a team that hasn't scored many goals a three goal lead must have felt strange. Going into tonight the Oilers were averaging just 1.71 goals per game so scoring three in a period certainly bucks that trend. Th offensive outburst led to Luongo getting pulled and Cory Schneider being called in as a replacement before the game's midway point.
Following the third goal the Oilers did their best to lose this game. After Hall was hit hard by Alexander Edler with a clean check at the Oilers blueline, Ladislav Smid and then Ben Eager challenged Edler to a fight. Edler, to his credit, declined both options but Eager still felt the need to take a penalty, presumably to stick up for Hall despite the fact that he wasn't on the ice when the hit was thrown and there was nothing wrong with the hit.
In the third period the Oilers went into defense mode looking to to not lose the game. If you're familiar with this strategy you know that it very infrequently works for the Oilers despite being a reasonable option employed by a great number of NHL coaches. But in this case it worked out for the home team. The Canucks would get within a goal early on thanks to Alexandre Burrows who tapped home an easy goal after passes from Henrik Sedin and Sami Salo. After this goal the Canucks had their chances to score the equalizer but just could not make it happen and the Oilers came away with the win.
News and Notes:
- Ryan Whitney left the game early with what appeared to be an ankle injury. After falling awkwardly Whitney played just one more shift. I don't need to tell you that losing your best defenseman is a blow.
- The Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins line combines for a 28-8 chances score. Hard to argue that they aren't doing a good job or making the Oilers better.
- Gagner also left early with what looked like a bad ankle. This team's depth is non-existent, injuries simply can't be accommodated.
- Every Oiler had a minus Corsi number tonight. Smid "leads" the way with a -24 but he wasn't alone in the ugly number department.
- Corey Potter's 27:37 led the team. Still a long way from a sure thing but Potter looks good.
20 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
After Hall was hit hard by Alexander Edler with a clean check at the Oilers blueline
The replay disagrees, unless you consider a forearm to the face clean.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
by Derek Zona on Oct 26, 2011 7:53 AM MDT reply actions 1 recs
I can’t really tell one way or another from the highlight package. I will take another look on the PVR later but live I didn’t think it was a bad hit.
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and a frequenter of the time waster that is Twitter.
Louuuuuuuuuu! is by far the most inane and annoying chant in the NHL if not all professional sports.
I will point out, however, that Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge! isn’t far behind. I sincerely hope the Oiler masses will forgo that idiotic tendency in the future. There’s nothing wrong with repeated utterance of the clean and simple, “Nuge!”, “Nuge!”, “Nuge!”. Hoping for ‘Stranglehold’ myself as both a moniker and goal music though.
I don’t get what Renney is up to, and I don’t know that Potter can keep playing these insane amounts of minutes. Can’t imagine him turning into a Prongeresque minute muncher like that, but we can hope I guess.
"When you find yourself rooting for mediocrity – you might be an Oilers fan." - Neal Livingston
My happiest moment watching the game was when Luongo got the hook, just so we wouldn’t have to hear that dumb chant for the rest of the game.
Ankle problem aside, Gagner looked really bad on the ice. Hall-Hopkins-Eberle were dynamite.
by TakeoutArtist on Oct 26, 2011 8:37 AM MDT up reply actions
Technically it's not a chant...
If they said “Louuuu… Louuuu… Louuu…” over and over, it would be a chant. Saying one big, long, annoying “Louuuuuuuuuuu!” is a cheer.
by Bananahammer on Oct 26, 2011 11:23 AM MDT up reply actions
I’ll give you that, however considering the fans do it every single time he touches the puck, it’s virtually a chant. And regardless of whether it’s a chant or a cheer, it’s still incredibly annoying.
by TakeoutArtist on Oct 26, 2011 12:28 PM MDT up reply actions
The Captain lead the way with the game winner
The captain caption is a bit off, technically Hall had the game winner.
"When you find yourself rooting for mediocrity – you might be an Oilers fan." - Neal Livingston
While I can blame spelling mistakes on being an engineer, that mistake has no excuse. Just dumb on my part.
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and a frequenter of the time waster that is Twitter.
Speaking of that game winner, did you happen to notice who was on the ice for Vancouver? 1, 4, 14, 22, 23, 33
They got owned, just like the rest of the Canucks did in this one.
Oilers fan through thick, thin and anorexic. Writer for The Cult of Hockey.
by Bruce McCurdy on Oct 26, 2011 11:28 AM MDT up reply actions
Gagner was pretty quiet, but I imagine he’s pretty rusty.
The fates are lining up against us, again. Everyone cross their fingers that the broken get some consistent games in so ST can at least make some deals with the guys he wants to move. Assuming he wants to, but I am thinking he does.
If this keeps up we will be stuck with three top players that can’t play enough and we’ll see them go for nothing, or keep getting submarined with injuries. No good scenarios there, unless a health miracle happens for them, like skeletal replacement.
Going into this season, unlike a lot of those prognosticators around the league, not as familiar with the Oilers, I felt goaltending would not be a problem this year. Not only has it not been a problem, it’s been winning them games. Specifically Khabibulin has been awesome. Lucky at times for sure, but awesome.
It’s reminiscent of his signing with Chicago. Following his Stanley Cup win in Tampa, he signed a massive and overly generous contract in post-lockout Chicago. He never stood out as a stand-out goaltender until the Hawks finally felt the need to bring in some insurance with Huet. This lit the fire under ‘Bulin’s butt. Probably being a contract year didn’t hurt either, but Bulin had an awesome ’08-’09 season while splitting the regular season with Huet. It could be that Dubnyk being seen as legitimate competition for Bulin has once again lit that fire. Whatever is going on, The Bulin Wall is putting together one of the best stretch of games in his career.
Had to give him his props. The team got him a 3 goal cushion in almost an instant and hung on tight while Bulin came up big over and over again. 2 of those goals scored of course by the dynamic kid line as they swarmed the Canucks goal time and time again. Hall’s explosive speed has been on display for over a year now on the big stage. What I’m noticing about RNH that’s impressive is his ability to take a pass that’s a little away from him, putting him off balance, and in an instant gliding up ice with considerable speed. This will be important for him at the NHL level where defenseman stepping up will take advantage of a forward receiving a non-optimal pass and needing a moment to regain his balance. RNH doesn’t give them that opportunity. He creates space for himself so quickly. Remember that first goal he scored, spinning off a check and honing in on the Penguins net. Beautiful to see.
I wonder how much longer Renney keeps relying on Horcoff’s line as the shut-down trio, being burned for minuses on both Canuck goals. As well as the Heatley tying goal a couple games before. Especially when Horcoff keeps lollipopping the puck in his own zone, serving up Grade AAA giveaways on a silver platter. It’s gross. The 3 biggest regular offenders of this are veterans, Horcoff, Whitney and Gilbert. With Gilbert it’s more wrapping the puck around the boards in his own end and hoping it ends up somewhere nice as opposed to actually having an idea of the best play or path for the puck. Better than losing it up the middle though like the other 2. Whitney’s over talked about +13 last year was a huge thanks to goalies bailing him out. He has more brain-cramps than Roman Hamrlik. Veterans seem prone to making rookie mistakes while usually rookies play it safe because they are more vulnerable to a seat in the press box if they don’t.
So happy to beat the Canucks. I love this trend of getting the first goal.
1st Star – Taylor Hall
2nd Star – Nik Bulin
3rd Star – Jordan Eberle
Who else is Renney going to use as the “shut down line”?
When you start the majority of your shifts in your own zone against the other teams best players, it’s going to give your +/- a kick in the ass relative to your teammates.
In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!
Tactical contributor to the Copper & Blue and just as boring on the twitters... @dawgbone98
I’d say Belanger for sure. Better faceoff guy, way better decision making with and without the puck. Another blog on here suggests Magnus is doing good things in his end. That would be the next line to try. Dawgbone, your answer is a cop-out. Who else? It’s not just about the minuses, it’s about the giveaways. Read ‘worst 3 offenders’ above’. Who else is not an answer. There are 9 other forwards. When your ‘trusted’ guys are making such horrible mistakes, almost by default, your other lines can only do better. At the very least, you try something else.
It wasn’t a cop out, it was a question.
The fact of the matter is there are no better defencemen on this team than Whitney or Gilbert. Giveaways are part of the game, they happen. At the same time, how many times are they able to make plays that none of the other defencemen on this team can make? Plays that get the puck and keep it out of the Oilers end?
As for Horcoff, again you take the good with the bad. Giveaways will happen to any line forced to constantly start shifts in their own zone. Eventually a mistake will happen. The Oilers have a stat counter who routinely hammers the Oilers on giveaway numbers, yet Horcoff, has one of the lowest giveaway numbers relative to icetime (much better than Belanger).
There may be 9 other forwards, but 3 of them are part of your 4th line, and 4 of the other 6 are rookies or sophmores.
Would it be nice if the Oilers could avoid having to send Horcoff out every 2nd shift in the last 10 minutes of a hockey game? For sure. But they don’t have that luxury and they don’t have anyone better.
Belanger has been adequate so far, but there’s a big jump from the job he has had to do so far to the one Horcoff has had to do.
In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!
Tactical contributor to the Copper & Blue and just as boring on the twitters... @dawgbone98
You are very kind to Horcoff. It’s not ‘eventually’ that a mistake will happen when you soft toss the puck up the middle, it’s a given. Rookies don’t even make that mistake. They know better. A rookie mistake might be trying to do too much, or force a pass. Horcoff’s give-aways are just pathetic and dangerous.
And rookies or not, Hall’s line owned the Sedins in the game. With a 3-0 lead I would have kept them against the Sedins, not rely on the ineffective Horcoff trio. And again, I think not just Belanger alone, but the line should be given shut-down minutes as well in light of that ineffectiveness. I think the rookies though will in time, this season, get their chance to prove they can handle clutch last minute of the game assignments.
Yes giveaways happen. i don’t expect perfection, but you can’t equate one giveaway with another and Whitney and Horcoff’s are of the worst kind. Unfortunately there’s no stat separating degrees of terrible giveaways, and when the goalie bails you out, you end up with a +13 like Whitney did last year.
All in all, I expect more from the veterans and not to consistantly make amateur errors.
When the Oilers took a 3-0 lead, it was that line’s second shift against the Sedins in the game. They scored a goal, so that’s encouraging, but it clearly wasn’t a common match-up during the game. In order to “keep them on the Sedins”, they’d need to be “on them” first.
The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.
by Scott Reynolds on Oct 27, 2011 9:50 AM MDT up reply actions
Yes, eventually you will make a mistake. Whether it’s a poor decision or the puck rolls on you at the wrong time causing your pass to go astray or you see something that isn’t there.
As for the Hall’s line owning the Sedins, I wonder whether we saw the same game? I don’t think they were on the ice against each other for more than 3 minutes the entire game and there is 2 shifts where they faced each other in the last 5 minutes of the game, both times after the Horcoff line played the first 20-30 seconds against them and got the puck out of the Oilers zone.
As for Belanger’s line, they are struggling enough with the secondary assignments, nevermind the primary ones. Giving that line the same role the Horcoff line is playing isn’t going to make things any better for them.
As for Whitney, Gilbert and Horcoff giveaways being the worst kind, neither of them had a giveaway on either Canuck goal. Both goals involved the Canucks out-manning the Oilers in certain areas of the ice.
In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!
Tactical contributor to the Copper & Blue and just as boring on the twitters... @dawgbone98
With Gilbert it’s more wrapping the puck around the boards in his own end and hoping it ends up somewhere nice as opposed to actually having an idea of the best play or path for the puck.
After reading this, I’m quite certain you’ve never actually paid attention to this portion of the game.
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2011/10/10/magnus-paajarvi-packhorse/
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Copper & Blue
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Oilers Schedule
Last 5 Games
@
Vancouver
|
Sat 04/07 | L 0 - 3 |
|
Anaheim
|
Thu 04/05 | OT - L 2 - 3 |
|
@
Los Angeles
|
Mon 04/02 | L 0 - 2 |
|
@
Anaheim
|
Sun 04/01 | W 2 - 1 |
|
Los Angeles
|
Fri 03/30 | L 1 - 4 |
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- Dubinsky returns for Game 5; No hearing for Brown; Spacek rips Habs (Puck Headlines)
- Marek Vs. Wyshynski Radio: Tyson Nash, Mike Brophy, Dustin Brown’s hit and Devils/Rangers
- In which Dustin Penner, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards edit their NHL narratives
- Puck Daddy Hockey Rumors Live Chat!
- Stanley Cup Playoff overtimes: Historically, when are goals most likely to be scored?
